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Ask HN: High functioning alcoholism – anyone?

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Re: Ask HN: High functioning alcoholism – anyone?

#101

Post by sjg007 »

alcoholicornot wrote: post #93

Thank you all for your feedback. Some are great and I really appreciate. Some clarifications (not for discussion, just for those who are / think are in a similar situation): - I mentioned half to full bottle of wine - it's just to give the measure. I actually drink wine, rum, whiskey, whatever - I said 5 days a week on average, didn't mention that the other 2 are usually the days I have something preventing me (no al…

Drinking alone is a risk factor as is drinking alcohol if it is available. Not being able to stop after a drink is also a risk factor. Some people self medicate which is another risk factor. In terms of potential you probably are limiting yourself but only you can answer that for yourself.

Re: Ask HN: High functioning alcoholism – anyone?

#102

Post by SOLAR_FIELDS »

kaiwen1 wrote: post #98

I have a policy of drinking alternate years. I tried alternate months first. Didn't work for me. I spent most of my off months longing for them to end so I could enjoy another on month. It was too much effort. So I switched to year on, year off. This works. The drinking horizon is so far away that there's no pressing anticipation. I know I'll get to drink again some day and enjoy great IPAs and wine. But for now, I'm…

Kava might be something like what you are looking for. I enjoyed it quite in place of alcohol many times before my body decided to become deathly allergic to it.

Re: Ask HN: High functioning alcoholism – anyone?

#103

Post by lomnakkus »

DanBC wrote: post #4

Current UK drinking guidelines are that you drink no more than 14 units per week. 750 ml of wine at 12% = 9 units per night. 9 * 5 = 45 units per week. That's considerably more than the guidelines. With excess drinking we tend to talk about problem drinking (drinking a bit too much); harmful drinking (drinking enough to cause harm, and you're certainly doing that) and dependent drinking (drinking enough to have a phy…

Hang on, I recall reading somewhere that the national guidelines for "acceptable" alcohol consumption are mostly made up and arbitrary? Or have they suddenly found a more scientific basis for them within the last few years? Don't they vary widely for nations with similar demographics?

I should say that I obviously agree that drinking alcohol is probably never the solution to any problems and may cause further (health or otherwise) problems, I'm just interested in the basis for this particular claim. Your comment was very valuable -- esp. with regard to how dangerous withdrawal symptoms can be.

Re: Ask HN: High functioning alcoholism – anyone?

#104

Post by davymac »

chatmasta wrote: post #36

Your situation is not as bad as many. It sounds like your problems mostly originate internally, rather than being the result of external pressure. It’s not like your friends are calling you up every day for a bottle; you’re drinking alone. So the only person you need to say “no” to is yourself (granted that might be harder than saying no to someone else). What works for me dealing with addictions / bad habits is to t…

I would add be careful with cutting off cold turkey (it depends on how dependent you are physically). Also, while tapering down, develop good “healthy addictions” to replace it with. Many times exercise and CBT is enough. Try that first. Expect depression to kick in. If you feel the need to return to booze even with those changes, medication may Be needed as you may be self-medicating, although your description sounds fixable without it.

Re: Ask HN: High functioning alcoholism – anyone?

#106

Post by jason_slack »

I can't say much of anything that hasn't already been said here.

Except, that I too keep an 'inner scorecard' for a lot of thing about me and my life. I still d0, but I started realizing that just keeping tabs on things and evaluating myself against others, data, measurements, society when I didn't have all the necessary information proved foolish for me.

I am still trying to stop doing this, but so far my changes have been positive by setting my own goals and working on meeting them for myself. I weigh a lot less. I eat a lot better, etc.

Perhaps just getting rid of unnecessary stress about keeping your 'inner scorecard' could help.

Re: Ask HN: High functioning alcoholism – anyone?

#107

Post by makemoniesonlin »

lomnakkus wrote: post #103
DanBC wrote: post #4

Current UK drinking guidelines are that you drink no more than 14 units per week. 750 ml of wine at 12% = 9 units per night. 9 * 5 = 45 units per week. That's considerably more than the guidelines. With excess drinking we tend to talk about problem drinking (drinking a bit too much); harmful drinking (drinking enough to cause harm, and you're certainly doing that) and dependent drinking (drinking enough to have a phy…

Hang on, I recall reading somewhere that the national guidelines for "acceptable" alcohol consumption are mostly made up and arbitrary? Or have they suddenly found a more scientific basis for them within the last few years? Don't they vary widely for nations with similar demographics? I should say that I obviously agree that drinking alcohol is probably never the solution to any problems and may cause further (health…

Yes, the guidelines for safe amount of units per week are basically arbitrary and not based on anything scientific, and vary a lot by country. [1]

For example, where I am from, Canada, the Canada Low Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines state that men should limit their intake to 15 drinks per week, where a drink is defined as 12 oz of 5% beer, 5 oz of 12% wine, or 1.5 oz of 40% spirit.

OP would hardly be exceeding the guidelines if he was from Canada, and not exceeding the guidelines if he was from Fiji.

This is why merely looking at the guidelines is dumb instead of the many other visible factors (personal relationships, weight, athletic performance, academics, etc.)

[1] https://health.spectator.co.uk/the-great-alcohol-cover-up-ho...

[2] http://www.ccsa.ca/Resource%20Library/2012-Canada-Low-Risk-A...

Re: Ask HN: High functioning alcoholism – anyone?

#108

Post by DanBC »

SirLJ wrote: post #76
DanBC wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've said, several times in this thread, that there's a difference between dependent drinking and harmful drinking. OP is clearly drinking at levels that are harmful, even if OP isn't dependent. OP is drinking well over the recommended 14 units per week, and OP thinks it's causing harm. It is a mistake to think that only dependent drinking is harmful. Harm is caused even if the person isn't dependent on drinking.

I get it: harm can be caused even if the person is not drinking... My advice is this: eat, drink, love, wear your new clothes, enjoy life... don't waste it worrying about non problems...

Four to five bottles of wine a week isn't a non-problem.

We know it it's a problem because OP is asking for help.

Re: Ask HN: High functioning alcoholism – anyone?

#109

Post by makemoniesonlin »

DanBC wrote: post #75
SirLJ wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whatever, one glass of wine in the real world is like 200ml... Anyway, alcoholic is someone dependent on drinking: starts in the morning to get rid of the shakes and drinks during the day... Half a bottle of wine in the evening, few times a week is not alcoholism... don't go and look for a problems where there are none - this will undermine the struggles of the real alcoholics...

I've said, several times in this thread, that there's a difference between dependent drinking and harmful drinking. OP is clearly drinking at levels that are harmful, even if OP isn't dependent. OP is drinking well over the recommended 14 units per week, and OP thinks it's causing harm. It is a mistake to think that only dependent drinking is harmful. Harm is caused even if the person isn't dependent on drinking.

The guidelines are arbitrary and not based on anything scientific. Stop mentioning them like if he cuts down to 14 units, he's not harming himself, but if he only cuts down to, say, 17 units, he still harming himself.

Re: Ask HN: High functioning alcoholism – anyone?

#110

Post by DanBC »

lomnakkus wrote: post #103
DanBC wrote: post #4

Current UK drinking guidelines are that you drink no more than 14 units per week. 750 ml of wine at 12% = 9 units per night. 9 * 5 = 45 units per week. That's considerably more than the guidelines. With excess drinking we tend to talk about problem drinking (drinking a bit too much); harmful drinking (drinking enough to cause harm, and you're certainly doing that) and dependent drinking (drinking enough to have a phy…

Hang on, I recall reading somewhere that the national guidelines for "acceptable" alcohol consumption are mostly made up and arbitrary? Or have they suddenly found a more scientific basis for them within the last few years? Don't they vary widely for nations with similar demographics? I should say that I obviously agree that drinking alcohol is probably never the solution to any problems and may cause further (health…

It's public health, so they're talking about an entire population.

If a million people drink no more than 14 units per week we see this much cancer, fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, etc.

If a million people drink no more than 28 units a week we see this much more cancer, etc.

Translating these population level risks back to an individual is hard.

This doesn't mean the numbers are pulled out of thin air.

Don't forget there are many multi-billion dollar industries trying to make people drink more, and stop people drinking less.

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